Stranger Things Have Happened
by The Eye of The Oncoming Storm
Summary: AU. A linear retelling of the story of a non-linear time traveler. Contains Spoilers! (ON TEMPORARY HIATUS. Sorry.)
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

She was an awkward child, believing in fairy tales and Good Wizards and Knights in Shining Armor as any child would, but with a passion and fervor that surprised many who encountered her. Grown-ups would pat her on the head and make some comment about her vivid imagination. They never realized that she saw the universe differently. She connected things, random things, and no one else saw it. No one understood the universe as she did, and why she believed the things that she did. Of course, neither did she.

She grew into a gangly teenager with a frizz of blond curls. She was a social outcast. The girl who was stronger, smarter and far cleverer than everyone in the school (and let _everyone_ know it). She graduated early and went to college, majoring in archeology and Temporal Law. She was offered a scholarship to the Time Agent Academy. She graduated from the Academy early and received her first assignment at 24. This is where we enter their story…


	2. Chapter 2: First Assignment

"**Jack, River. I have an assignment for you. You're going to the planet Chel to find rogue Agent Roland. He needs to be brought back for court martial." **

"**If I may ask, sir. Why?" Jack asked.**

"**None of your business, Lieutenant. Just report to the armory for your vortex manipulators." River and Jack both saluted. "Yes, sir." **

"**And Jack?" **

"**Yes?" **

"**River is going to be in charge on this assignment." **

"**But sir, I've been an agent for longer than she has and-" **

"**You act before you think. You made a complete dog's breakfast out of your last assignment. I think that you could learn a thing or two by not being in charge for a while****."**

* * *

><p>Chapter I<p>

Year: 4300, August 26

Location: Galaxy G-63, Galactic Vector 47b, Star System Molyn, Planet Chel

Agents: Lieutenant River Song and Lieutenant Jack Harkness

Assignment: Locate and Retrieve Rogue Agent Geon Pronounced-like-John Roland

Local Time: 9:17 AM

River had never been to Earth. Not that she didn't want to go to Earth, She just had never had the opportunity. She had seen pictures of it in holovids and sub-ether cards from her grandparents. And now, standing on the planet Chel's surface, she decided that this was the most Earth-like planet she'd ever seen.

"So, what's the plan, how do we find him?" She asked. They had not been told what Roland's assignment was or what he did to deserve a court martial, only that he needed to be brought back for one.

Her partner brought up a map on his computer. His name was 'Jack, Jack Harkness'. Tall, dark hair, blue eyes and a cocky attitude. "Looks like there's a small town over there. Doesn't look that far. . . You up for a little walk?" Jack asked. River nodded. They started down the road together. They had been walking for about twenty minutes in silence until Jack simply said. "So…"

River waited for more but he said nothing. "Yes?"

"How old are you?"

"Cheeky."

"I'm serious. Almost nobody who graduates from the Academy is under 30."

"Almost?" River's eyebrows raised in faux indignation.

"Well, there's me." _Cocky_.

"Yeah, and how old are _you_?"

"How about answer for an answer, eh?"

"23." She winced at giving him this sensitive information.

"20."

"You've been a Time Agent for little over 3 years. How could you be 20?" River could barely hide her righteous indignation.

"I was one of the first to be signed up for the Agency. They called me the Face of Boe."

She could almost see the capital letters on that name as he spoke them. "Mm. That explains it."

"Explains what?" Jack seemed puzzled.

"Your sense of entitlement." _Cockiness_.

They walked for about ten more minutes until they came to the small town.

_Small town! _River fumed. She scanned the view in front of her. "This is the 'small town' you were talking about?" River asked. "I grow up in town of about 30,000 people and this is small to you? This city has a population of at least 2 billion!"

"Hey, when you see enough of the universe, this town _is_ small." Jack said.

She glared at him for a second before asking, "So…how do we find him?"

"Hey, I'm not the one in charge, Song. You tell me." Jack said.

"Jack, you may not be in charge but you do have more experience with this sort of thing. How do we find Roland?"

Jack rolled his eyes as he whipped out a device River did not recognize. _Probably not standard issue._ River thought._ Or legal. It could be better implemented on a wristband, though. "_This thing can track vortex manipulators that been used to go places that weren't preprogrammed into it. Now, since the Agency wipes the memory of a vortex manipulator after every mission, this should be fairly simple."

'Simple' apparently meant walking halfway across the city, following the signal by turning it until it beeped and trying to find it before it moved again. Finally they tracked the signal down to a pub called Sol's.

"Well, the vortex manipulator is in here. Let's hope Geon still has it on." They went inside and spotted a large group of people at the bar. Geon was one of them. Jack and River heard him talking over the din of the pub.

He was talking to three other patrons sitting next to him. "I have proof that there was man there when you were flying away from the black hole, He was in a blue box, a big blue box, says police. A man in brown suit with blond-haired woman with brown eyes. I need to know why that man was there."

"Geon! Ol' buddy. How've you been?" Jack said. "Sorry you three, but we have to steal him for a second."

"No problem at all." said the first man. As he ran his hands thorough his dark brown dreadlocks, he seemed relieved. The three of them got up and left. River noticed his captain's insignia as he passed her.

"No, you can't leave yet!" Geon yelled across the pub.

"How come, you on a date or something?" Jack asked sarcastically.

Roland finally seemed to realize who they were. "No! I can't leave because I'm working on a project bigger than the Agency. Something more important than anything." Geon said a bit too loudly. The pub gave a start and looked in their direction. Geon looked a little ashamed but started speaking again in a lower tone. "I've found evidence of a rogue time traveler."

Jack and River exchanged glances. A rogue element was almost impossible unless it was one of their own. "Ah, I've got your attention now." Geon said knowingly. The younger time agents hesitated as if mourning the potential loss of their jobs before sitting down to listen. "This rogue element, who is he?" River asked first.


	3. Chapter 3: Won't Remember

Chapter II

Local Time:13:52 PM

"He," Geon started, "is a man, who often travels with a companion, usually a woman. I've seen him several times on my assignments, and he's always leaving. It's as if he makes a mess and we're suppose to come and clean it up. I have pictures." He brought out a holobook.

Jack got up and said, "Look, if there's something going on, we can go and tell the Agency and they can handle it."

"No!" Geon was becoming louder and starting to attract attention. "I have gone to them. I told them what I saw. What I've found out. That's the reason you're here. They don't want anyone to investigate."

Jack sat for a second and then said, gently, "Geon, you know that I trust you. You were my mentor when I joined the Academy." River started. This was news to her. "I want believe you. But I can't lose my job. I have alot of people back home who are proud of me for doing what I do. I can't chase after this guy if the Agency doesn't want us to. I'm really sorry, but we were told we have to bring you back for a court martial."

He started to get up but River stopped him. "Jack, if this man in the blue box is as important as Geon says, we just can't ignore it. He could cause chaos and then the Justice Department will be breathing down our necks. And/or the universe will implode." Jack glared at her. He knew that as well as she did, but he couldn't lose his job.

"Fine." Jack finally said. "If you want to listen to him, and you can find substantial proof of the damage he's caused, then I'll help you. But for now I'll be outside. Tell me when you're ready to leave." Jack got up and walked out of the pub and into the shop across the street. River and Geon watched him walk away for a second before resuming their conversation. "I have pictures." Geon said again.

"Right. Pictures." Repeated River.

Geon opened the holobook and showed her a picture of the man she heard Geon describing when they walked in. His back was facing the camera but you could clearly see that he was wearing a brown suit and red trainers. A blond woman was clinging to his arm and they looked like they were laughing. Very happy and in love. But in the back ground you could almost make out a blue, box-shaped object.

"I took this picture when I was on Earth, in the 21st century, on the Powell estate. They left a few second later in that box you can see in the back ground." He opened different file and showed her another picture of the same girl but with a different man. In this one they were actually walking inside of the box. "This one was taken about a year earlier."

"But it's a different man." River said. Geon nodded. "I think he's a shape-shifter. That's one of the reasons I don't trust him. Shifters have… a reputation." River nodded understandingly. There were too many stories of shape-shifters that stole people's identities. In this picture also they look very much in love. "Here's another picture of the first man, but with a different woman. And another picture with yet another woman. At first I thought that she was a shifter too but I recorded some of their conversations. A few times they were talking about some of the other women, so, unless she also has multiple personalities, they are different people."

Geon turned the page to show yet another picture with yet another man and another woman. This one was different, though. She was another blond. The picture was taken from behind but you could see that she was wearing camouflaged clothes and hand cuffs. There was something odd about this woman though. She seemed… familiar. "This one took on a planet called Alfava Matraxis. On this planet I was able to learn what might be his name. He calls himself 'The Doctor.' "

An incessant beeping alarm started coming from River's vortex manipulator. She quickly shut it off and looked guiltily at Geon. He knew what that meant. "It's time, isn't it? Time for me to go back to the Agency, and be arrested on some trumped up charges." He said, disgustedly.

River nodded and looked across the street and saw Jack making his way toward them. "River, look at me. If you believe me, please take this book. This book contains everything I've ever learned about The Doctor. Every picture, every audio and video I've ever taken of this man. I've even found some historical references of him." She took the it. " Find out who he is. Because the next time you see me, I won't remember any of this."

"What do you mean, you won't remember?" River asked.

Geon gave her a sad smile and said, "River, if I'm found guilty at my court martial, They are going to erase two years of my memories."


	4. Chapter 4: Time Agency Secret

Chapter III

Location: Time Agency

Local Time: 10:31 AM

6 weeks after completing her first assignment

River sat in her quarters thumbing though the holobook that Geon had given her. But she kept coming back to that picture of the blond woman and the strange man with a bow tie. There was something about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Something about the way she carried herself. And the man, too. He seemed like someone she knew, a very long time ago….

A knocking at her door interrupted her thought processes and she sat there for a second staring at the door before getting up to answer it. "Hello, River. May I come in?" Jack said. He grinned at her. River rolled her eyes. "No."

"Aw, come on. You know you can't refuse a guy like me. I'm a very likable guy." He leaned against the door frame. "Please?" He leaned a bit more toward River and River hit the door controls. Jack jumped out of the way to avoid getting caught in the door. He sighed and knocked on the door again. "River, will you please let me in?"

"No. I'm already getting a headache."

"I'll try to keep the flirting to a minimum."

"Jack, for you, saying hello is flirting."

"I already said hello." Jack could her River sigh from inside of the room. "First sign of you flirting with me and I'll report it. You won't be able to get a job as a rent-a-cop." She said and activated the door controls. The door slid open. "What do you want Jack?" River asked him.

"River, remember that assignment we got a couple of weeks ago. On Chel." He said.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, I got a little suspicious about the stuff Geon was saying about that man. So I did a little digging."

"I thought you said you didn't believe him and didn't want to get involved." River said.

"What I said was that I couldn't afford to believe him. But he was right. I couldn't find much in our database about him but when I was looking I found this." He got out a his computer, brought up a file and handed it to River.

"What is this? Where did you find it?" She asked as she started reading it.

"I got it off the sub frame." She stopped reading and looked up at him. "Jack, what'd you do that for?"

"I had to. Keep reading." She sigh and continued. Her eyes got bigger the further she read. When she finished, she handed the tablet back to him. Then she crossed her arms and started pacing.

"So. Blaidd Drwg Investments _suggested_ that _we_ take that particular assignment. Why?"

"I-"

"Shut up Jack, I'm thinking."

"River, I KNOW why!"

She stopped pacing and did an abrupt about-face. "What?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you. That document is only the beginning of the paper trail. Blaidd Drwg Investments is a dummy corporation. I followed the trail through two more fake companies before I hit a firewall." River interrupted, "So the trail went cold."

Jack turned a deep pink colour. "Well, not exactly." He brought up another file on the tablet and handed it back to her.

River's eyes widened as she read the first sentence.

"Impossible."

* * *

><p>I think rent-a-cop is an American term. And I am absolutely no expert on technical jargon. <em>Could you find a message the was deletedhidden by looking on the sub frame? Please comment!_


	5. Chapter 5: Impossible

Chapter IV

Local Time: 10:35 AM

**The Torchwood Archives**

**Cap. Jack Harkness, AKA The Face of Boe**

The Administrator of Torchwood 3

**The following message must never be shown or mentioned to the younger Jack Harkness. It is imperative to the time stream that he not know who is giving him this assignment, nor who assigned him to work with River Song on this assignment. These events are already established in my time stream, but I have found that nothing leans in favor of the younger Jack Harkness receiving this assignment by chance. **

A rogue Time Agent Geon P. Roland will be on the planet Chel in the year 4300

on August 26. Lt. Jack L. Harkness and Lt. Dr. River Song will be assigned to retrieve

him. They will be watched by two agents of your choosing from a distance. Ten minutes

after they locate Geon, have the other agents recall them to the Time Agency.

* * *

><p>River read the message once. Then twice. Then thrice. Even after that, she neither believed nor understood it. "What does it mean, younger Jack Harkness?" She mused.<p>

"I guess, that some where out there, is another, older version of me. I wonder if I still look good." Jack mused. River rolled her eyes and reread the message again. Then a thought came to her.

"Jack, if this is a future you, and I don't even believe that, but if it is, would you remember reading this?" A look of realization crossed his face, followed by a pained look. "Oh. I'm going to have to forget, aren't I?" River nodded gravely.

"But that doesn't mean that you have to forget right now." She said slowly. "What do you mean?" He asked her. "Well, just because you don't remember in the future doesn't mean that you didn't investigate it. Do you know what happens when you get court martialed?" He shook his head and she said, "They wipe two years of your memory. So, for all we know, two years from now, you get court martialed. You forget this conversation we're having right now and the research you did. Or will do."

Jack looked at her and said "Why would I willing get my mind wiped? Do you really not like me that much?"

"Your future self doesn't remember this. I personally wouldn't choose the memory wipe for my worst enemy."

Jack thought about it for a second and said, "So, basically, anything after the Chelan assignment I won't remember."

"Nope." He thought a bit more, then said "If we're going to do this, we need a plan." He grinned at River and said _(cockily) _"Let's get married, baby."


	6. Chapter 6: Rules of Engagement

Chapter V

It had taken a lot of convincing on Jack's part to get River to go with this. After she'd slapped him. Twice. The first time just after he proposed and the second time when he'd tried explaining. Then she had locked herself in the bathroom. _Only_ after Jack thoroughly explained to her his plan did she start to consider his proposal. She'd come out of the bathroom and laid down the ground rules of their relationship.

" Number one: The only physical contact we have is occasionally kissing in public, just to convince people this is real.

"Number two: I get to plan the wedding. No negotiating on that.

"Number three: We can't tell our families that we actually are not a couple. If we want people to believe us, we have to convince everyone.

"And number four: Just as a warning, my mum will probably hit you at least once. She will not like you and will try everything in her power to make you leave me alone."

* * *

><p>Local Time: 19:07<p>

As much as she hated to admit it, this was actually a good plan. If the Doctor was able to travel in time, River had quit her job at the Time Agency, and could find clues at archeology sites of the Doctor. Jack, being a time agent, would be able to use his vortex manipulator to travel to those points in time to observe if he is indeed a threat. Their first 'date' was to an asteroid restaurant, orbiting New France.

Silverware clinked as River and Jack ate their dinners. She'd put up with his conversation (flirting) for long enough and was content to finish their dinner in silence. Jack had seemed to get the message. After she'd kicked him under the table. Twice.

After they ate, they went to their rooms. They'd gotten two rooms adjacent to one another, but they both went to River's room. River had brought some of the old records she hadn't been able to finish going through. It was time to get to work.

Jack grabbed the file on the top of the stack that River had brought with her and started going through it. "I found a bit of marble that seems to depict a man similar to the description. One of them, anyway. Tall, skinny guy with a woman." River said.

"Where was it found?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. It was in a museum."

"A lot of help that is."

"Here's another sighting. It's a passage I found in an old historical book. Back from about 1879 or 1880, I think."

"Read it to me."

" 'And the Sainted Physician slayed the beast, ending the reign of the Bad Wolf.' Funny."

"What?"

"Blaidd Drwg. It means Bad Wolf. Blaidd Drwg Investments was the dummy corporation that 'hired' us for that mission in the first place."

"Weird." Jack said absently.

"Mm."

"Oh, here's something else. In the year 2106 a man called the Doctor defeated an army of aliens called the Daleks."

"Oh, I remember reading about the Daleks when I was at University. I minored in Invasions of The Earth. I wonder why they never mentioned him?"

River retrieved her vortex manipulator and punched in the coordinates. "River, where'd you get that?"

"Um…I found it?"

"You just - _found_ a vortex manipulator."

"Yep. Are you coming or what?" Jack placed his hand on the vortex manipulator and they disappeared.

River and Jack appeared in a war-torn 22nd century London. They heard a old man's voice not to far from where they were and started climbing through the rubble towards it. "-Now go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me I am not mistaken in mine." The pair of them had just reached the crest of the pile of rubble and they heard a sound. A sort of high-pitched whirring or howling sound. _Why does that sound so familiar? _River thought to herself.

She looked over to the two people who appeared to be staring at an empty space. Then the girl slipped something off her neck, dropped it on the ground and walked away, hand in hand, with the man who had been standing next to her. When they had disappeared, River climbed down the other side of the rubble pile and picked up the thing that the girl had dropped. River turned it over in her hands. Jack came running up beside her.

"What is that?" He asked. River shrugged. "I don't know." She handed it to Jack. "It kind of looks like a key."

"Maybe. But to what?"


	7. Chapter 7: TARDIS Blue

Chapter VI

Local Time: 09:29 AM

For two months, Jack and River had been dating. For three of those weeks, Jack and River had been working at a very promising dig site. They'd found residual artron energy. Time Travel residue. And River had been asked to supervise.

"Ok, Anita, Todd, start excavating in G7. Dee Dee and Geoffrey will be working on L7." Her team members picked up their tools and went to their designated work areas. River went to the lab truck. There were some interesting hieroglyphs that just would not translate.

"River!" Jack shouted. She turned around. "You've got a package. Bit weird, though." He handed her a box, with the most beautiful shade of blue wrapping paper. She turned it over in her hands examining it. Stamps nearly covered one side of it, with just enough room to write a sending and return address. But strangely there was no return address. She brought it into the truck and set it on the counter. She carefully unstuck the tape. A slip of paper fell to the counter. She picked it up and read it.

_"River, this notebook is for your adventures. To chronicle the events in your life like the chapters in a book. I took the liberty of writing a few things inside to you start off. It is so important that you read them carefully and __remember them__. The wrong word at the wrong time can rewrite our lives."_

The note was unsigned. River looked down at the wooden box that contained a notebook, apparently. Like the wrapping paper, it was a bright shade blue. She turned the box over in her hands, looking for the lid. She finally realized that it was a puzzle box. There were shapes cut into the panels. She studied them for a long time. It seemed as if she had seen a language shaped similar to those on the box. She remembered the reason she had come to the truck in the first place. The glyphs that won't translate. _This'll keep. I have a job to do. _River thought.

She retrieved the plaque and got the language dictionary. Her colleagues had been skeptical of books. Just about the entire history of the human race was on record. Just about everything ever written was available on a computer. But River always thought that there was just something about books. She opened it to shape-based languages. Circular languages. She went through every language. Twice. Nothing matched. She slammed it shut.

_There's got to be a record somewhere._ She leaned back in her chair and looked at the book. Then she blinked. And looked at the book again. _It's got to be my eyes playing tricks on me._ She picked it up. It had gotten thicker. And heavier. She cautiously opened it back open to shape-based languages. There, under the Gs, was a new entry. Gallifreyan. She read the description of the language.

_**Gallifreyan:**_

_**The language of the planet Gallifrey. Long lost planet of the Time Lords. The newest dialect of Gallifreyan looks like circles and hexagons put together to create some form of pictograph. There have been older dialects have also been discovered but the most common dialect is the one described above. Old High Gallifreyan seems to be based on an early version of block transfer mathematics, while Modern Gallifreyan seems to be a concept language. The few reports of humans who have learned Modern Gallifreyan seemed to have only learned a fraction of the language, as much of it is temporally related concepts that would confuse most sentient minds to the extent where they would go into a coma-like state, if they were to fully understand. Old High Gallifreyan, by comparison, is simple, as long as you understand hexadecimal mathematics. **_

River flipped around in the book and found other entries that weren't there before. She shifted her gaze towards the puzzle box. _I wonder…_ She picked it up and compared them to the pictures in the book. They were a bit off, but they looked nearly like the ones in the book. She traced the outline of the letters with her fingers. They shifted. She started and kept turning it until it matched the letter in the book. She continued to do that until all the letters matched. Then the lid clicked open. Music started to trinkle out. A song she'd never heard before. She listened to it for a bit. It was beautiful. She reach in and pulled out the journal. She about to read whatever was written there when the song ended. Then a voice came on. A woman's voice. "Doctor, where did you say we were going?" Then the recording cut out. River could barely believe it. _But, that was- no, it couldn't be, could it? That was my voice!_

River flipped open the journal and started reading. The word that the sender had written appeared to be a sort of rulebook, sort of instructions for using the journal.

_You're probably wondering how you could find that new language in the encyclopedia that you had gone through dozens of times. Well, you're a time traveler now, River Song. Nothing will be the same ever again._

_1. The first most important rule is DO NOT let ANYONE, __especially__ the Doctor or his companions read this diary._

_2. Write down every encounter with the Doctor. You think you will remember, but there will inevitable be one, very important fact that is forgotten. So, WRITE IT DOWN._

_3. Use this journal to keep track of the previous encounters that Geon had with the Doctor. The Time Agency can track the holobook that he was using._

_4. DO NOT tell the Doctor very much about your previous encounters. I would say never, but sometimes it will be inevitable._

_5. Run. I mean it, RUN. RIGHT NOW! RIVER, TURN AROUND AND __**RUN!**_


	8. Chapter 8: Run

Chapter VII

Local Time: 10:44 PM

So she did. River ran outside, to where her team had been working. A metallic voice echoed through the passageways. "YOU ARE COMPATIBLE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED." She'd made it to where the others were working. They had climbed out of the maze of shallow tunnels they'd dug. "Where's Todd and Geoffrey?" River asked. Anita shook her head, eyes open wide. "They were the first ones."

"First ones what?" Anita grabbed River's arm and pulled her away. "We have to run." She said. "I don't understand. What is-"

"YOU ARE RIVER SONG, CONFIRM." She stood in shock for second before replying "Er, Confirm?"

"I AM CYBER-UNIT, ONCE WAS KNOWN AS GEOFFREY SIMMONS."

"But you can't be-"

Anita interrupted. "There's a machine down there, it just grabbed Geoffrey and turned him into…that."

"YOU ARE COMPATIBLE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED."

"What does he mean, assimilated?" Dee Dee asked.

"I think he means we turn it to those things. Run!" The three of them started running. Jack came running from the other side of the dune. "River, what's-"

"No time to explain, Jack. Just run! Everyone, get in the truck!" River shouted. The five of them ran and Jack and Jethro barricaded the doors. "Ok, I don't think they can get in that way. Head count! River?"

"Alive."

"Dee Dee?"

"I'm alright."

"Anita."

"Here."

"And, Jethro, you're here." Jack looked at River. "Todd and Geoffrey?" He asked. River shook her head.

"And the University won't expect to here from us for a couple of days." River stated. "Anita?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd they kill Todd?"

"Electrocution." River turned around. "Everyone back away from the walls and stand in the middle of the room."

"Why?"

"Because those thing electrocuted Todd and the walls are metal." Everyone crowded in to the center of the room. "Don't touch anything metal." They stood there, waiting. "What are we going to do?"

"Don't know. Still thinking." River looked at the book on the counter. She reached over and picked it up. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. But I when I was reading this, it had something weird in it. It told me to run." Dee Dee tried to look at it but River snatched it away. "Sorry, Dee Dee, but that is one off the rules in the book. Don't let anyone read this book."

"And just because a book tells you to do something, you do it?"

"When it's instruction manual, yes."

"Instruction manual?"

"Yeah. We're going to need some gold."

* * *

><p>The door to the truck slid open. "We're coming out! We surrender!" They came out with their hands up. River was in front, with the gold powder in a her hand. The metallic man walked toward them. "YOU WILL BE UPGRADED INTO CYBERFORMS."<p>

River threw the gold powder at the cyber form. "MY SYSTEMS ARE IMPAIRED. I- CAN- NOT-" The cyber form bent over and the circuitry sparked. "It worked! I can't believe it worked!" The little group started celebrating. "CYBERFORM ONE DEFEATED. I AM UPGRADED TO CYBERFORM ONE. YOU WILL BE DELETED." The second cyber form started to walk towards them. "Jack, you're on!" River shouted. He threw his handful at it and it was stopped exactly like the first.

The five of them spent the rest of the night drinking and celebrating that they survived. But after most of them had fell asleep, River stayed up. And read the words on the next page.

_"The first threat you'll come across will be known as Cybermen. Gold powder gets into their system and kills them by basically suffocating them. Another way to defeat them is to disable their emotional inhibitor…"_


	9. Chapter 9: W Day

Yes, this is a very short chapter. Be nice.

* * *

><p>Chapter IIX<p>

Local time: 21:03 PM

"When you said that you wanted to plan the wedding, I thought you would have planned something a little bigger than getting married at city hall." Jack said.

River glared at him. "Do _you_ want to plan a 'big' wedding on our salaries?"

"Point taken." They sat a moment in silence. "Sooo." Jack said.

River rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jack?"

"Have you given any thoughts to where you want to go for our honeymoon?"

She looked at him, her mouth agape. "You cannot be serious."

"Think about it. It's a perfectly acceptable reason to be gone, say, a month, we would be basically _expected_ to travel, plus, I have paid vacation time."

River thought. "Sounds good to me. Only one problem."

"What's that?"

"We still have to tell our parents."

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "We don't have to tell them anytime soon."

River frowned at him. "Why not?" She prompted.

Jack tried distracting her. "Hey, isn't that the jewelry set I bought for you?"

"Jack, what aren't you telling me?"

"It's not important." He said.

River wasn't about to give up. "Jack, in a few minutes, we will be married. You shouldn't be hiding anything from your spouse."

"I thought you didn't like the idea of getting married and now you're using it as a tactic? That just isn't fair."

"It's fair when it's convenient for me. We're getting married, you should know that by now. What aren't you telling me?"

He avoided eye contact as he spoke. "My mom and I haven't spoken in over a year. Closer to two years, actually."

"Oh." River said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Why?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay." _I can't even imagine it._ River thought. _My mother and I are so close. I wonder what happened?_

"Jack Harkness and River Song?"

"Hey that's us." Jack said, eager to think about something else. "Come on, Mrs. Harkness."

River smiled at him wickedly. "But that's not how it works in my family, sweetie. Besides, I think Jack Song sounds much better than River Harkness."


	10. Chapter 10: Kiss Kiss

Chapter X

Location: Tribal planet

Local time: unknown

"We're screwed, aren't we?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely." River confirmed. They were in a small, windowless hut, waiting for a decision from the tribal elders. They had aggravated the tribe by pretending to be friends of the Doctor's. Apparently, the Doctor and his companions had just narrowly avoided being thrown into the volcano for some appeasement ritual.

They'd been stripped of basically everything except for the clothes that they wore. Even their shoes had been taken. "It's to keep us from running." River had said. They were sitting on the dirt floor with their backs to the wall. Their feet were tied to the wall of the hut and a guard had been posted at the door.

"River?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?" She thought for a moment. "Sure, why not? You not going to live long enough to tell anyone else."

"When I said let's get married- what I mean is- I was only half kid - Never mind, it's stupid."

"Probably."

He sat there in silence for a second and then said, "I love you."

"You _what_?"

"I know, I know. It's just- I mean your- different. You're clever. You see things in a different way than anyone else. "

Jack rested his head on the wall behind them and closed his eyes. "If I hadn't been so mad for you being given the command over me, I'd have asked you out on a proper date." River pulled him closer to her and kissed him. When she pulled away, Jack asked, "What was that for?"

"We might die soon and this might be the last chance I have to spend time with someone who actually cares about me."

Jack grinned. "Well then- let's make a point of it." He leaned over and kissed her. Instead of the overwhelming urge to hit him over the head that she normally felt when he kissed her, River found herself returning his kiss.

* * *

><p>Outside, the tribal elders had gathered.<p>

"So, what are we going to do with them?"

"Well, they're obviously human. We can't sacrifice them. The medicine woman was very specific. It has to be an alien."

"And they are obviously not friends of the Doctor's. His friends spoke our language flawlessly. These two new people can barely saw a few words."

"So what do we do with them?"

"Drug them and leave them out in the forest. Let them fend for themselves."

* * *

><p>"Oh, my head." River moaned. <em>I <em>_really__ hope that this isn't the afterlife. _She thought.

"Are we dead?" Jack asked.

"I don't think this is heaven." River replied.

"Who says that's where we are?"

"Touché." River sat up and took stock of her extremities. Nothing broken or missing. That was a good sign.

"They must have dumped us somewhere in the forest. What kind of people are they?" Jack said.

"The nice kind, Jack."

Jack snorted. "Nice? We're in the middle of nowhere."

"They didn't kill us. For such a primitive culture, that's nice."

"Hey, look, they left our stuff. Here, catch." Jack tossed her shoes and her vortex manipulator to her. She caught them and put them on.

"Jack, what's the last thing you remember?"

"They brought us some tea, I thought it was weird and then nothing. I don't even remember drinking it."

"Same here. Let's go home. We can sort this out later."

"No arguments from me." Jack programmed his vortex manipulator and they disappeared.


	11. Chapter 11: Captain Jack Harkness

Chapter XI

Six month into River and Jack's 2 year plan

Jack and River had gotten back late the night before from Justica, after being tipped off that a man called the Doctor had been imprisoned there temporarily. But they had disappointed to find that there were no other clues as to where he was. Now they were sleeping in at a hotel on a nearby asteroid. Or trying to.

River's communicator buzzed relentlessly on the table. Across the room, River looked over Jack's head at the clock. 8:03 AM. Sighing, River got up and walked across the room. She picked up the communicator and opened the message. It read:

"Meet me at the Solar Side Diner on the asteroid Mercrath. 9:00 AM. Come alone. C. JH"

_Solar Side, that's right around the corner from here._ She thought.

* * *

><p>River was sitting at a corner booth at the diner. She'd been waiting there for over an hour. A waitress came by with coffee.<p>

"Still waitin' hon?" The waitress, Tiffany, asked. River nodded. "I don't think that he's gonna come. You might be wasting your time." Tiffany said. River shrugged. "Haven't really got anything better to do right now. I'll wait a little while longer."

"Ok, it's your time. Waste it however you like." The waitress poured her some more coffee and left. River looked at her watch. 10:16. _Any longer and I'm leaving._ Just then the door opened and a familiar figure walked in, walked over to her table and sat down.

"How'd find me here?" She asked.

"I didn't. I asked you to meet me." Said Jack.

"Why couldn't you just talk to me back at the room?"

He looked confused. "The room?"

"Yes, the room. Why'd you ask me to meet you here? And you weren't even awake when I got the message. How _could_ you have even asked me to meet you here?"

"Um, I think I still am at the room."

"What?"

"Do you have a communicator?"

"Yeah."

"Call me."

"Why would I call you? You're-"

"Just- do it, alright?"

River sighed and dialed his number. She heard it ring. Once. Twice.

* * *

><p>Jack woke up in their hotel room. He looked at the clock. 10:16 AM.<p>

River had left a note on the psychic paper beside his bed. Jack picked it up:

"Sweetie, meet me for dinner downstairs at eight' o'clock. X"

_Guess I've got some time to kill._ He thought. He walked into the bathroom and started taking a shower. Then he heard his communicator buzzing on the bureau.

* * *

><p>"Hey, River. What's up?"<p>

She looked at the man sitting across from her, wide-eyed. He raised his eyebrows and pointed at the communicator. She realized that Jack was still on the line.

"River, you Ok? Are you still there?" Jack asked, concerned.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Wrong number. I meant to call someone else."

On the other end of the connection, Jack grinned. "You just wanted to hear my voice again, didn't you?"

"No."

"You were missing me, weren't you?" River rolled her eyes and the man across the table snickered. River kicked him in the shins and he winced. She continued.

"Yes, sweetie. I couldn't miss the sound of you flirting with anything with a pulse."

"I do not do that."

"You so do."

"Do not."

"Do too, sweetie."

"I hate it when you call me sweetie."

"Tough. I'm not going to stop. Sweetie."

"Whatever. Tonight at 8, _sweetie?_"

"Yea. See you later, sweetie." The connection was cut and River replaced the communicator in her satchel.

"Well?"

"How could you be here?" She asked.

"River, look at me. Take a good, long look." She did.

"Now, does this look like a young face?" River's eyes widened. "No." She whispered. "That's just-" River's words broke off into silence.

He grinned at her. "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service."


	12. Chapter 12: Save Him

Chapter X

Local Time: 10:18 AM

"Why are you here, though?" Jack asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You are way past your jurisdiction. I hacked the computers at the Agency-"

"Why am I not surprised?" River said, rolling her eyes.

"- and you, I mean, _we _weren't assigned here. No one is assigned here. Justica is a division of Storm Cage."

"Which is policed by the Time Agency, both of which are under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department, but you're right. We're here for- other reasons. The Agency doesn't even know we're here. And I'd like it to stay that way. What about you, Jack? Torchwood?"

"How do you know about Torchwood?" He asked incredulously.

"You cleverer than you give your self credit for. You- I mean, your younger self, can hack the Agency's computers, too. The younger you found that message that the older you sent, and that is one of the reasons we're here."

"I read- I mean, the younger me read the message that explicitly said 'Do Not show to Jack Harkness."

"Yes, you did. You are very bad at doing what you're told, aren't you?"

"Thank you."

"That wasn't meant to be a compliment."

"It sounded like a compliment. Anyway, the reason you're here, is because you read a message, that I sent, to keep my timeline straight, that sent you on some search of your own, against the Agency's wishes, which is why I had two years of my memory erased, which is the reason I don't remember reading the message that I sent."

River sat there going over what he'd just said before replying, "Basically. I think."

"This is why I'm starting to hate time-travel. How old am I?"

"What?"

"The younger me. At the hotel, apparently. How old am I?"

"You're about 20."

"Ah. So, at the beginning of the two years I don't remember."

"Yeah. How old are _you_ now, Jack?" River asked pointedly.

"3312, at last count."

River's jaw hung open in shock. "H-how? And what moisturizer do you use?"

"I died. Shot by a Dalek. But a friend of mine, gone now, took the time vortex into her mind. Brought me back to life, but she made a mistake. She brought me back for forever."

"Wow. Forever, as in- never die?"

"No, I can die. I just don't stay dead."

"Is that it, then? You called me here so you can brag about being immortal?" River said sarcastically.

Jack shook his head somberly. "No, River. I wanted you here because there are two years of my life that I don't remember, and apparently I spent most of them with you."

River sucked in her breath. "So the plan worked, then."

"What plan?" He asked.

She smiled. "Like an old friend once told me, spoilers."

"River, who am going to tell? The Agency? In this current timeline, the here and now, it's a few years past when that all happened, River. The Agency is only seven guys now. I'd already have forgotten and be conning some guy out of a half a million credits."

"You moved onto being a con man?"

"I prefer criminal, but, yeah. In a sort of round-about way, that's how I got this way. Never dying."

"Most people would say it's a gift."

"Who says I _want _to live forever? Watching everyone you love and care about die and everything around you turn to dust. What a gift." He said dejectedly.

River remained silent as she mulled over this information in her mind. "I'm sorry." She finally said.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. This was all my fault, wasn't it? If I hadn't had listened to Geon, and gone straight back to the Agency, we wouldn't have went looking for the Doctor, and you wouldn't have gotten two years of your memories erased. And you wouldn't have had to go through all that."

Jack, however, ignored the apology. "Did you say the Doctor?"

"Yeah, I did. Do you know something about the Doctor?" River asked expectedly.

"Yeah, I- wait, why are you looking for the Doctor?"

"Geon, he said was on a couple of missions for the agency, and a couple of times he saw the Doctor leaving. He thought that this guy was causing some of this stuff. Left on his own, this Doctor could screw up the time lines."

"Ah." Jack was trying and failing to hide a grin.

"What?" River said warily.

"Nothing. Just that, he wasn't far of from the truth."

"Do you know something about the Doctor?" River asked again.

"I can't tell you anything."

"Jack-"

"No, I'm really sorry. I can't. Just remember this. And don't ask me to explain it to you because you're the one who told me to tell you this, and nothing else. You have to save him."

River was confused. "What? Save who? The Doctor?" She asked.

"I don't know, but that is exactly what you told me to tell you, right here, right now." Jack got up to leave. "You'll see me later, River."

"Bye, Jack." She watched him walk for a few seconds before getting up. "Wait, Jack-" He turned around and she kissed him. Taken aback, he asked, "What was that for?"

"Just to say, thank you." Then she left him standing there alone staring after her as she walked out the door.

The waitress walked up to him. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Are you going to pay the bill?"

"What?"

"Well as your friend left, she said you were getting the bill?"

"Why, that little-" He muttered, shaking his head. _I should have seen that coming._ He thought. "Yeah, I'll cover the check."


	13. Chapter 13: Jack's Day

Chapter XI

Jack took his time showering and getting dressed. He hated getting out of bed in the morning and taking it slow was the only cure he'd found so far.

By the time he was finished, it was about 11:20. He accepted this information with a long sigh.

_I'm going to have an early lunch. _

He decided to go to the diner around the corner from the hotel. The walk was not that long and he'd never been there before but he concluded that any food from a diner was better than the paltry offerings that the hotel served.

The diner reminded Jack another eatery he'd seen in an old American film, from when the human race had barely even stepped into space. _Do all diners look the same?_ He thought. It was small and the tables were polished metal. The seats were red vinyl-covered foam. The bar stools were covered in the same red fabric. There were only a few other customers seated in the diner. Jack smelled burgers and chips cooking.

He walked in and took a seat in the corner booth. Tapping out a tune with his fingers on the table top and smiling at the other patrons when they looked at him. The waitress made her way over to take his order.

The waitress walked up to the table, wearing a puzzled expression on her face.

"Weren't you here a few hours ago?" She asked, flicking her hand behind her to point at the door as though this would mean something to him.

Jack smiled unconvincingly, disguising his frown unsuccessfully. "Nope." He answered, glancing at the door and popping the 'P' sound. "This is the first time I've ever been here. You must be mistaken."

The woman shook her head firmly, waggling her finger at him. "No, I'm pretty sure you were here earlier. You were with a curly-headed blonde."

"That's impossible, I was back at-" Jack broke off. _No, it's completely possible. _A small voice said. _The 'older' Me. _A sick, heavy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

Jack waved it off. "OK, so maybe I was here before. Is it wrong that I liked the food? Or that I liked seeing you?"

The waitress giggled with a gentle blush forming, before clearing her throat and going back to her former professionalism. "Are you going to order?"

"Yeah." He answered, looking down at the options for food with his mind elsewhere. Mindlessly, he said the first thing he saw and barely noticed that the waitress had disappeared into the kitchen.

Jack sat thinking. _Why was River here with future me?_


	14. Chapter 14: River's Day

Chapter XII

River breezed out of the diner and left a puzzled Jack behind. Her brisk pace slowed to a simple stroll. She had a lot to think about and she was in no hurry to face her Jack back at the hotel. She was going over the thing that he'd said to her.

_3312, he'd said. _She shook her head. _Blimey, that's a long time. _

_Is it worth it?_ A voice at the back of her mind asked. _Is it worth it, to love a man who is going to forget you?_

River shook her head again. _Who said I love him? I don't __love__ him. I- tolerate, him, is all._

She could almost hear the voice laugh mockingly. _Oh you love him and you can't even see it. That's rich._

_I. Don't. Love. Him. He said that he loves me, but that's just Jack. _She thought.

The voice laughed again. _Yeah, it's Jack, but think about it; It's Jack. He said you were different. He said that he __loved__ you, River. For Jack, that's very remarkable. But is he worth getting your heart broken?_

River sank down into a park bench and stared at the children playing. A little smile was entertaining itself at the corners of her mouth as she turned her mind to the past. Anything but Jack.

She remembered the hoverboard she'd been given on her 10th birthday. Oh, she'd gotten in so much trouble with that board. She remembered her first day of going to a proper school. She'd been started in 5th grade, and she'd taken the hoverboard with her. She'd gotten detention on that first day for nearly hitting the headmaster. But when she tried to recall any memories from before her 9th birthday… Nothing.

"One of them yours?" A woman, a blonde woman, was sitting beside her. River was taken by surprise. _Was I that deep in thought?_

"No. I was just- remembering." _Or not._

The stranger nodded knowingly. "Back when everything was simple."

"Not quite so simple." River corrected quietly.

"What's your name?" The woman asked.

"River. Yours?"

"I can't tell you."

"What, you don't know?" River smiled lightheartedly at the strange woman.

The woman laughed. "No, I know my name, but I'm not supposed to tell you. I'm not even supposed to be here."

River grinned, more for her own benefit than the stranger's. "No, nor me."

They sat there for a minute in silence. "River?" The woman asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"I suppose."

"If you loved somebody who somebody that would continue to grow younger, would you still choose to be with them?"

River thought about it. "I don't know. But I suppose it's impossible, so, yeah, why not?" River tried to discontinue their strange conversation.

The woman, however, was persistent. "What if they loved you back, but at the same time, each time you met them, they know you less and less."

River was taken with surprise about the specificities of the question. "I think that it'd be worth it." River finally answered. "I mean, if they _really_ loved me. There are all sorts of stories of couples where one has Alzheimer's or something but they are still together, so I suppose it'd work something like that." She looked curiously at the stranger. "Does it matter?"

The woman laughed again and got up to leave. "More than you know, Ms Song." She walked away and River diverted her attention back to the children at play. Then a thought hit her. "Wait, I didn't tell you my last name. How'd you-" She looked up for the woman. She had disappeared.

She dismissed the conversation in her mind. _Nutter_. She thought.

_But the bit about forgetting._ She thought. _That's like what I was saying before._

* * *

><p>Please comment! I live for comments! Or questions. Those are good too. But keep reading! The 'save him' reveal will be soon! And please comment!<em><em><br>__


	15. Chapter 15: Over Dinner

Chapter XIV

In the defused lighting of the hotel dining room, Jack played with the food on his plate.

He'd been very patient with River. Ever since she'd come back to the hotel, she'd been silent besides a few words of greeting, but he had to ask her about the future him. Somehow.

"So, how was your day?" He asked conversationally.

"Oh, that's very domestic." She commented dismissively.

Jack bristled, feeling his patience thinning. "Hey, at least I'm trying. You haven't said two words to me since this morning."

"I just- I've got a lot on my mind right now." River stuttered, avoiding looking at him. That worried him.

They sat for a few more minutes in silence.

"River, is something wrong?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"No, everything is fine." River's façade of nonchalance was kept a little to well. Jack could see that something was on her mind.

_Something brought up by future-me?_ Jack wondered.

"Still rivers run deep." Jack said stoically, noticing how River's mouth twitched at the corners in amusement at his allusion to the old earth saying.

River conceded. "Ok, everything is not fine, but it doesn't matter."

Jack returned to his food, going over their brief conversation in his head. A few minutes later, he said, very quietly, "So, you went to the diner earlier?"

River closed her eyes, let her fork drop onto her plate and covered her face with her hands. "Can we not talk about this?"

Jack caught on quickly. He wasn't about to let her escape this subject now. "River, I know you did. And apparently, the waitress remembers seeing me-"

"Jack, not now." She interjected, but he ignored her and carried on.

"-when I remember being back at the hotel room. Why didn't you tell me? I know that he's a future version of me, but I don't know if you can trust me, or him, or whatever."

"I'm not very hungry right now." River muttered, pushing away her plate to emphasize this point. She shoved her chair backwards, making it scuff the wood floor, got up hastily and started walking away.

"River, please don't leave." When she didn't stop, he called after her. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know. Somewhere. Anywhere." She called as she disappeared through the doors.

Once she arrived at the room and shut the door behind her, she leaned against it for a second. Then she let herself slide to the floor until she was sitting, hugging her knees and putting her head forward until her head was resting on her knees.

After moments of silence, she heard footsteps coming down the hall. River could hear them searching their pockets for something. Then they knocked on the door. "River, please let me in."

"I just want to be alone. Go away." River didn't bother to lift her head to reply to him, so that her childish request was muffled.

"River, please. I'm not even going to remember whatever you have to say, so there not any point to avoiding it." Jack pleaded through the door.

"No, you're not going to remember. That is exactly why I'm mad at you." She growled at him.

"What-"

River quickly punched some coordinates into her vortex manipulator and vanished before she heard the rest of his sentence.

She appeared in the middle of a moor. She checked the location on the vortex manipulator.

_The dark moors of Haaren. Not where I was aiming for. Something must have drawn it off course._

She looked around. A rose taupe sunset contrasted with the midnight green moss that covered the ground for miles.

_Doesn't matter. This place is as good a place for a long walk as any._ River slipped off her high-heels and walked across the soft terrain, making a bee-line for the crest of the hill and watched the sun disappear from the horizon. The sun had nearly disappeared and she was about to leave, when she heard blood-curdling scream punching though the cool humid air.

* * *

><p>Oops, did I make that a cliffhanger? My bad.<p>

Sorry about the wait. Life happened. I mostly have the next chapter done. Just a few more thing to finish and then off to my beta reader. Thank you again, Alleywayqueen!


	16. Chapter 16: Him

Chapter XIV

"Rory! Where are you? Rory!" River heard the woman's voice over the screeching of a creature. She kept running towards the sounds.

"Amy!" A man's voice.

"Over here!" The woman, Amy, yelled back. River kept running towards the screams and screeches.

When River reached the top of the next ridge, she saw Amy. She had somehow climbed onto a very large boulder, a cat/dragon type creature was trying to reach her. River removed her gun from its holster on her thigh and shot at the creature. It looked at River ravenously. The next thing she saw was the creature barreling toward her.

Another figure appeared and was running at the creature from the side with a sword drawn. "Rory!" Amy screamed. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" The man was dressed, for whatever reason, as a roman.

_Centurion_. The voice corrected. Tears welled in River's eyes, making it hard for her to aim and shoot. _Why am I crying?_ She thought, terrified.

She looked around. Everything looked different. She could see everything. She looked up at the battle in front of her. She watched the Centurion and the creature. She saw where the Centurion's blows could land. Where the creature's attacks could connect with the Centurion and crush him. River was paralyzed with the immensity of information pouring into her mind.

The creature had now turned to fight the Centurion. River wanted to act, but years of memories came flooded back to her mind in the same second, making it hard to think and move. Her first memories…

* * *

><p><strong>"I wish I could tell you that you'll be loved. That you'll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn't a time for lies." The mother picked up her child and cradled her in the crook of her arm. "What you are going to be, Melody, is very, very brave."<strong>

**The woman with one eye stepped toward the pair. "Two minutes." She said unsympathetically.**

**The mother turned around and faced the people behind her. "But not as brave as they're going to have to be. Cause there's someone coming." The mother turned back around to face the window. "I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me. He's on his way."**

**The mother looked back down to Melody. "There is a man who's never going to let us down. And not even an army can get in the way."**

**The mother's voice, soft and strong and full of confidence in something. No. Someone. Some would call it faith. Even then, Melody could sense that in her mother's mind.**

**The woman with one eye approached the two of them with her arms out, an unspoken demand that the mother hand over Melody.**

**"Leave her. Just you leave her! Please leave her! Please! Leave her!" The mother's cries fell of deaf ears.**

* * *

><p>River's head burned as she recalled those first memories. But they were helped along by the same voice that she remembered, now screaming at the creature. "Rory!" River looked back up at the scene. A Centurion fighting a monster. Coming to save Amy. Another memory flashed into her mind.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>She was in a cot. Her mother stood over her held her very young daughter's tiny hand. "He's the last of his kind. He looks young but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you. You will never be alone."<strong>

**The mother leaned forward and lightly kissed her daughter's forehead. "Because this man is your father. He has a name but the people of our world know him better, as The Last Centurion."**

* * *

><p>River staggered as she remembered. <em>Why did I forget?<em> She thought. _How__ could I forget?_ Everything she'd forgotten swirled around her memory. But one thing in particular kept running to her mind. Influenced by the new information now feeding into her brain, what she saw that must happen. _Save him._

Her head was on fire now. Remembering everything she had forgotten and seeing what is and what is going to be was taking it's toll on her mind. But still, those two words came to the fore of her mind. _Save him._

Tears still blinded her and she could barely think with all the forgotten memories flooding back into her mind, but she looked back up to The Centurion. The creature had him on the ground. He'd been knocked onto his back and the creature was about to crush him with it's scaly clawed appendage. There was only one future she saw now. Something had to happen, something that she had to do. River's mind screamed with pain and two words, spoken to her not so long ago. _**Save him!**_

River's actions were instinctual. She did what she had been trained to do since she was six years old. She fired her gun at the creature's heart and hit her target. The creature screeched in pain and rage. It only broke off from it's attack for a second but that was all the time The Centurion needed. He had regained his composure and his sword. He affixed himself in between River and the creature and drove his weapon into the creature as it charged into him. He was knocked to the ground.

Amy climbed off the boulder and started running towards him. River started running towards him, too. A knot started to form in River's stomach but she ignored it. Amy reached The Centurion first.

"Rory!" Amy tried to remove the reptile from The Centurion. River helped her roll the creature onto it's back. "Rory, are you alright?" He sat up, out of breath and covered with the creatures blood.

"I think so." He said. Amy hugged him. Then she hit him. "Ow!" The Centurion winced and rubbed his arm where she'd smacked him.

"Don't do that, ever again." Amy scolded him.

"Do what? Risk my life, fight a creature-"

"Yes. Either of them. Both of them." Amy hugged him again, then stood and looked up at River. "Nice shot, River. When are we?"

River was taken aback at the casualness with which Amy used with her name. The knot in her stomach tightened further the longer she stood there. Her mind still ached but to a lesser degree and still made it difficult to speak.

Amy didn't wait for an answer, however, and continued on, grinning. "Oh, wait, spoilers, right?" River just nodded. She had the feeling that something else was wrong, like something shouldn't be here and only made her feel worse.

"Why are you dressed like-that?" River asked hazily, finally noticing that they were strangely clothed for the current location.

"We're supposed to be on our honeymoon." Rory stated.

"But a Centurion and a-" River gave Amy a once over. "-policewoman?"

"Um, yeah." Rory answered awkwardly.

"That is the last time I let the Doctor choose a 'romantic' location." Amy said as she helped her husband off the ground.

"The Doctor?" River was taken off guard. This detail only compounded the feeling that something was very, very off.

"Yeah. We're were traveling with him and then Rory and I got married and the Doctor offered to take us on our honeymoon. But after this, the only place that he is going to take us is Rio." Amy walked over to the creature and pulled the Centurion's sword out of it's heart. She walked over to the Centurion and handed him the sword, holding it at arms length. "I am not cleaning it off."

River felt the knot in her gut tighten further the nearer Amy got to her. It got to the point where it made River feel very strange and sick. "River? Are you alright? You look like you're about to be ill." Rory asked.

"I-I have to leave." Almost immediately, she hit the return button, and disappeared.

Amy and Rory stood there looking at the spot River had disappeared from. Amy shook her head. "She's worse than the Doctor." A familiar sound filled the air. "Ah! Speak of the devil." The blue box materialized in front of them and a bow-tied figure stepped out.

"Hello, Ponds." He looked them up and down. "What happened to the pair of you?"

Amy shoved past him going into the console room. "Never mind that. After Rory and I have showered, you are taking us to Rio."

The Doctor had a pained look on his face. "You're not going to shower at the same time, are you?"

"Shut up, it's my honeymoon."

* * *

><p>Please review! The more of you that review, the later I will stay up to finish the next chapter.<p>


	17. Chapter 17: Burned Out

Chapter XV

River teleported back to the hotel room and collapsed to her knees, leaning on the doorjamb. "River, are you Ok? River!" She reached up to unlock the door then collapsed onto the floor, puking and retching. Jack pushed his way into the room. He rushed to her side and placed his hand on her ashen face. She was burning up and fading in and out of consciousness. _Dammit._

He got his communicator and called an emergency number. "Hello? I need help. My- wife just collapsed." River's sight began to fade. "No, River, come on, stay awake." Jack propped her head up on his lap and was holding it up. "Stay with me, River. River!"

* * *

><p>When she woke up, she was in an plain-looking hospital room. She looked around and saw Jack, sitting beside her in a chair, leaning on her hospital bed. He was holding her hand<em>.<em>

The nurse passed by her door then stopped and looked in. "Oh, good, you're awake." She said quietly. "He was very worried about you." The nurse nodded at Jack. "How long have I been here?" River asked. "About three days. You were nearly comatose. Hold on, I'll get the doctor." The nurse continued down the hall.

Jack stirred and tightened his grasp on her hand. River stroked his hair with her free hand. "Oh, Jack. If you could see yourself, you'd be mortified." She said with a smile. Jack stirred again and woke up. "River?" He mumbled. Then he realized she was awake and let go of her hand.

"Er, River. You're awake. How long have you been awake?" Jack said blearily. "Not that long." River said with a smirk.

"What happened? I mean, one minute, your throwing a fit that I wanted to talk to you about future me and then the next minute, you're puking on the carpet." River shook her head. "I wasn't in the room the whole time Jack. I teleported to the moors of Haaren. But, something happened there. I can't quite remember." She could only remember snippets of that strange night. "Well, what can you remember?"

"There were two people there. Amy and the Centurion." Jack looked up at her with a look of confusion. "Who's 'the Centurion'?"

"I mean, Rory. I meant to say Rory." River corrected quickly. Jack was still looking at her doubtfully when a bow tied doctor came in. "Hello, I'm Dr James McCrimmon. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was."

"Good." He looked over at Jack. "Why don't you go get a cup of coffee, Captain. It looks like you need it."

"I think I will. I'll be back in a second, River." Jack got up and left the room.

"You called him Captain."

"So?"

"He's not a Captain. Not yet anyways."

"Oh. Well, that's not important." He walked over and checked the scanner next to her bed. "Everything's working perfectly fine. Whatever was bothering you seems to have righted it self. I'll just- Hold on, what's that?"

"What is it?" River strained her neck to see the screen.

He turned the screen toward her and pointed to a silhouette. "There's a shadow, just there. Hold on, I'm going to enlarge the image." He typed a few commands into the computer. "See, just there, it's a shadow. Looks like a heart. Rather small, though. About the size of a kidney. But this one over here is your heart. See, it's beating. Wonder what this other thing is? It doesn't look cancerous, and if it is a heart, you would think… Unless…"

River shrugged it off. "I've had it for all my life. The other doctors never really bothered about it. They called it dextrocardia situs geminus."

Dr McCrimmon spaced out for a moment more, then his attention snapped back to the present. "Yes, well, if you've had it for your whole life and it's never bothered you, I probably shouldn't go poking about." He looked back up at the screen. "I don't see anything wrong with you, except you seem to have vitamin deficiency. That's what caused you to pass out and be sick. Stress probably a factor too. You might want to think about taking a few weeks off work. A holiday would do you good."

* * *

><p>"Vitamin deficiency." River said.<p>

"Vitamin deficiency? That's it? That's all he said?" Jack said incredulously.

River nodded. "Yep."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"That what he said though. Which is medical code for don't-know-what-the-heck-just-nearly-killed-you."

Jack sat there silent. "River, are you sure you're Ok?"

"Well, I am now."

"What happened exactly?"

"I walked around on Haaren for a bit, then I heard someone screaming. I ran over to where they were and there was the Cen- I mean Rory. Then, for no reason at all I just started crying. There was something that I can't remember…" River closed her eyes and felt her memories smoldering in her mind. She snapped her eyes back open and shook her head, instantly forgetting the sensation. "Anyway, the world looked different for a while."

"You mean it looked wrong?"

"No, not exactly wrong, just, different. It made my head hurt. I remember thinking 'how could I forget' but I don't remember why or what I forgot. My head felt like it was on fire then. I shot the creature and it started running after me. The Centurion killed it and it landed on him. Me and Amy or something like that, pulled it off of him and that's when I noticed a knot in my gut, like-" River trailed off.

"Like what?" Jack said. River shook her head. "Like something was off. Like something was there and wasn't supposed to be. It got so bad I just had to get out of there. That's when I came back to the room."

Jack looked at her seriously. "Maybe a holiday isn't such a bad idea after all."

River looked at him, indignant. "Jack, you don't think I'm going mad, do you?"

Jack shook his head. "No. Well, maybe a little. Look, even if you aren't going mad, you just went through a lot. I mean, you've basically been in a coma for nearly three days. That'll take a lot out of a person."

River sighed. "Maybe you're right. But there was something about that doctor."

"Like other than the fact that he doesn't really exist?"

"What do you mean, he doesn't exist?"

"The only Dr James McCrimmon that I could find in the Torchwood Archives was a doctor in the year 1879. He was assigned as the Queen's protector. But that was all he did. That was the only thing that Dr James McCrimmon did, his entire life. He wasn't even born, not according to the Archive."

"Curious." was all that River said in reply.

* * *

><p>Please comment! I'm not above begging!<p>

Extra points if you spotted the Old-who reference!


	18. Chapter 18: Holiday

Holiday

* * *

><p>Location: Space Florida<br>Local Time: Who cares? It's a vacation.

* * *

><p>Jack lay in the sun, working on his tan, while River sat working on her laptop. "Hey, Jack," She said. "Take look at this."<p>

He sat up and squinted as the sun hit his eyes. "River, we're on vacation. You're not suppose to be on your laptop."

"Correction, Jack" She said. "_You_ are on vacation. I'm on administrative leave, but there is nothing that says I can't work on _our_ case. What are you going to do, tell my boss? Anyway, look at this. It's a picture of The Doctor and his companions, circa 1941." She turned the screen so that he could see the image.

He looked at it and his jaw dropped. "That's not possible." He said.

River grinned wickedly. "Oh, it is. And it gets even better. Do you remember that footage I ripped from the cameras at Justica? Take a look at this." She switched windows. "You were there, at Justica, with the Doctor and Rose."

Jack looked at her, confused. "Rose?"

River nodded. "One of the Doctor's companions. That's about all I can find on her, though. According to the Torchwood Archives, there was a virus. They called it the Bad Wolf virus. It erased almost every mention of the Doctor that was on the internet prior to 2005."

"Bad Wolf again. That can't be a coincidence." Jack said.

"There is no such thing as..." River looked off into the distance. "... Coincidence."

"What? What is it?" Jack looked around.

"See that red-haired woman over there? Don't stare, Jack!"

"I'm not, I'm not." He said. _I'm ogling. Completely different._ "Do you know her?"

"She's the woman I saw on the moors. And that man she's with, is that-"

"Is that the guy that was dressed as the centurion?"

"No!" River scoffed. "But I think that's the Doctor."

"What's he doing here?"

"It looks like he's-" She squinted. "-surfing?"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jack started to get up. "Let's go get him."

River caught his arm. "No, Jack, wait. If we do arrest him, we don't know what that would do to the time stream. And we're not even going to be able to hold him without evidence. Besides, he's not doing anything right now, except surfing." She cringed. "Badly."

Jack cringed too. "Oh, man. Somebody get that guy some ice."

* * *

><p>Jack and River we standing by the surf board shack, watching the Doctor, trying to make it look like they were just interested in the gear.<p>

"What's he doing now?"

"He's... coming this way. He's coming towards us. Move, move it!" Jack pushed River into one of the fitting rooms, and tried to get away too. But he was too late.

"Jack?" The Doctor said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm... on vacation. Sorry, do I know you?"

"I regenerated. Quite exciting but still not ginger." The Doctor frowned.

"Well, um, good for you." Jack replied.

"We haven't met yet, have we?" The Doctor asked.

"Not _yet_, apparently. Looking forward to it." Jack replied uneasily. "I think."

The Doctor's ginger companion came up to them. "Doctor, weren't you going to take me-" She stopped when she saw Jack standing next to the Doctor. "Oh. Hello, I'm Amy."

Jack was about to say hi back, but the Doctor interrupted. "And he's just leaving. Come along, Pond. Let's go see the Croco-gator."

Amy scoffed. "You're joking, right?"

The Doctor replied, "I never joke about genetically spliced creations of science."

When they'd left, River came out of her hiding place. "That was...interesting."

Jack nodded. "I didn't know they had a Croco-gator here." River just rolled her eyes.

* * *

><p>"Who was that, Doctor?" Amy asked.<p>

"That was Captain Jack.

"He was very attractive."

"Never, ever talk to him. Ever."

"A friend of yours?"

"Yes."

"Then _why_ can't I talk to him?"

"Because he didn't know me yet. And he's Captain Jack."

"What does that-"

"I'll explain if you ever meet him again. Which I will avoid at all costs."

* * *

><p>After a long day of following the Doctor and Amy, the tired couple went back to their hotel room. Jack showered and River got on her computer.<p>

"Well, _that_ was productive." Jack said sarcastically.

"Of course it was." River said. "We've learned three things."

"Oh, yeah? And what were they?"

"We learned that we learned that he can't surf to save his life-"

Jack sniggered. "He wiped out royally."

"-We learned a that he definitely knows you, and he currently has a companion from the 21st century."

"What?"

"Amelia Jessica Pond, born in 1989 in Scotland, then moved to Leadworth in 1996. Married in 2010 to... It doesn't say."

"Come again?"

"It doesn't say who she was married _to_."

"Weird."

A phone started ringing incessantly. River picked it up and looked at the caller ID. "Oh, crap."

"What? Who is it?"

"My mother."

* * *

><p>OK, so it's been a while. I was stuck on this chapter for a long time. First I couldn't figure out where they would go on vacation, then I couldn't figure out what I wanted to accomplish in this chapter. Anyway, I hope this chapter makes sense within my storyline. I shouldn't have as many problems with the next chapter as I did with this, and should be up soon-ish.<p> 


End file.
